The Language Atlas of China ( simplified Chinese: 中国语言地图集; traditional Chinese: 中國語言地圖集; pinyin: Zhōngguó yǔyán dìtú jí), published by Hong Kong Longman Publishing Company in two parts in 1987 and 1989, maps the distribution of both the varieties of Chinese and minority languages of China.

It was a collaborative effort by the Australian Academy of the Humanities and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, published simultaneously in the original Chinese and in English translation. ^[1] Endymion Wilkinson rated this joint venture "outstanding". ^[2]

The book was edited by Li Rong, Xiong Zhenghui and Zhang Zhenxing of the Institute of Languages of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

There are a total of 35 color maps, each with necessary textual explanations. ^[3]

In 1999, this book won the First Prize for Excellent Achievements of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. In 1999, won the first prize of the National Social Science Key Planning Project. It has caused a great response in the academic community both domestically and internationally, and has received widespread praise. ^[4]

A second edition was published by the Commercial Press in 2012.

Background

Before the establishment of the People's Republic of China, 21 ethnic minorities had their own written languages. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the government formulated written plans for ethnic groups such as Zhuang, Buyi, Yi, Miao, Hani, Lisu, Naxi, Dong, Wa, and Li. ^[5]

Mandarin is the standard language of Chinese, with Beijing dialect as the standard pronunciation, northern dialect as the basic dialect, and modern vernacular texts as the grammatical norms. The Constitution of the People's Republic of China stipulates that "the state promotes Mandarin, which is widely used throughout the country." The National Language and Writing Law of the People's Republic of China, promulgated on October 31, 2000, established Mandarin as the national language. Mandarin is also one of the world's major languages and one of the six official working languages of the United Nations. ^[6]

Since the 1980s, Chinese dialects have undergone extensive investigation and description, leading to significant progress in historical dialect comparison. This progress has laid the groundwork for the burgeoning field of geographical linguistics in China. Research on Chinese dialects, dating back to Zhao Yuanren, has primarily focused on static descriptions of the dialect itself, with limited exploration of the social, historical, and geographical factors shaping dialect variation.Yet, a comprehensive understanding of Chinese dialects necessitates an examination of non-linguistic factors such as cultural history.There is an urgent need for new research methods to expand and deepen the study of Chinese dialects.Geographic linguistics, as a research method, offers invaluable insights by visually mapping language variation in regional spaces. This method illuminates the relationship between language and geography, thereby facilitating a deeper understanding of language change.Moreover, advancements in technology and mapping software have provided unprecedented technical support for the study of dialect geography. ^[7]

Classification of Chinese varieties

This book proposes a five level classification method for Chinese dialects, which is "local dialects (点 diǎn) - clusters (小片 xiǎopiàn) - subgroups (片 piàn) - groups (区 qū) - supergroups (大区 dàqū)".

In the Atlas, a county or city generally selects one dialect representative local dialects (点 diǎn), while in areas with complex dialects, two or more representative local dialects (点 diǎn) are selected.

Except for dialect points, the scope of other levels varies depending on the actual situation.

Dialects within the same sub district, sub district, district, or major district all have obvious similarities. This is a multi-level classification of Chinese dialects based on common characteristics as the standard. This five level classification method is a progress in both theory and practice compared to the traditional "dialect sub dialect local language" three-level classification method.

The atlas organizes the varieties of Chinese in a hierarchy of groupings, following the work of Li Rong: ^[8]

• supergroups (大区 dàqū): Mandarin and Min
• groups (区 qū): Jin, Wu, Hui, Xiang, Gan, Hakka, Yue, Pinghua and groups within Mandarin and Min
• subgroups (片 piàn)
• clusters (小片 xiǎopiàn) are only identified for some subgroups
• local dialects (点 diǎn): localities that were surveyed

The first edition of the Chinese Language Atlas divides Chinese dialects into ten regions: Jin, Wu, Hui, Gan, Xiang, Min, Cantonese, Pinghua, Hakka, and Mandarin. This objectively and comprehensively reflects the actual situation of Chinese dialect zoning.

Contents

The Language Atlas of China is printed on loose white sheets measuring 15 in (38 cm) × 20.75 in (52.7 cm); each map is accompanied by a blue sheet of the same size containing explanatory notes. ^[1] The is significantly different from previous scholarly classifications of Chinese dialects. The atlas contains 35 coloured maps, divided into three sections: ^[8]

• A. General maps
  • A1 Languages in China
  • A2 Chinese dialects in China
  • A3 Distribution Map of Ethnic Minorities in China
  • A4 Distribution map of minority languages in China
  • A5 Language distribution ( Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region)

• B. Maps of Chinese dialects
  • B1 Mandarin-1 ( Northeastern China)
  • B2 Mandarin-2 ( Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and western Shandong)
  • B3 Mandarin-3 ( Henan, Shandong, northern Anhui, northern Jiangsu)
  • B4 Mandarin-4 ( Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia)
  • B5 Mandarin-5 ( Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region)
  • B6 Mandarin-6 (Southwestern China)
  • B7 Jin group ( Shanxi and adjacent areas)
  • B8 Chinese dialects (southeastern China)
  • B9 Wu group ( Zhejiang, Shanghai, southern Jiangsu)
  • B10 Chinese dialects (southern Anhui area)
  • B11 Chinese dialects ( Hunan and Jiangxi)
  • B12 Min supergroup ( Fujian, Taiwan, eastern Guangdong and Hainan Island)
  • B13 Chinese dialects: Guangdong (mainland)
  • B14 Chinese dialects (Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region)
  • B15 Hakka group
  • B16 Chinese dialects overseas: (a) insular Southeast Asia (b) other parts of the world

• C. Maps of minority languages
  • C1 Minority languages in northern China
  • C2 Mongolian languages
  • C3 Mongolian dialects
  • C4 Turkic (Tujue) languages
  • C5 Manchu-Tungus languages
  • C6 Minority languages in southern China
  • C7 Kam-Tai languages
  • C8 Miao-Yao languages
  • C9 Dialects of the Miao language
  • C10 Tibeto-Burman stock languages
  • C11 Tibetan dialects
  • C12 Minority languages (Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region)
  • C13 Minority languages (Yunnan province)
  • C14 Minority languages on Hainan and Taiwan islands

Second edition

The second edition of the Chinese Language Atlas is based on the latest research results of Chinese dialects and minority languages in the past 20 years, compiled from the 1987 edition of the Chinese Language Atlas. ^[9]

Work began on revised edition in 2002. ^[2] The work was published in 2012 as a joint venture between the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the City University of Hong Kong. It consists of two volumes, dealing respectively with varieties of Chinese and minority languages. ^{[10] [11]} The revision follows the same structure as the first edition, but the number of maps has increased to 79, and the explanatory text is greatly expanded. The number of minority languages covered has also increased from 81 to 130. ^[12]

Comments

This book is the first large-scale project undertaken by the Chinese dialectal community since the resumption of work in 1979. It has received strong support from relevant parties and embodies the excellent tradition of collective cooperation and collaborative efforts in the Chinese dialectal community. The Atlas is a significant advancement in the study of Chinese dialects. The publication of Atlas has received attention from academic circles both domestically and internationally, and is considered a fundamental contribution to the field of science and culture in China.

During the work process, on the one hand, we fully utilized the research results on Chinese dialects and the rich survey materials we had accumulated before, and at the same time, we organized a large-scale on-site investigation and verification. These investigations and verifications involve over 600 cities and counties or dialect points equivalent to cities and counties, with investigators traveling tens of thousands of kilometers.

Therefore, the Chinese dialect zoning map and accompanying text explanations drawn on this basis not only succinctly summarize the research achievements of Chinese dialects before this, but also include a large number of the latest achievements in Chinese dialect research. It objectively reflects the actual situation of Chinese dialect zoning and clearly expresses the important characteristics of each dialect area in Chinese. ^[13]

See also

• Demographics of China
• Languages of China
  • Languages of Hong Kong
  • Languages of Macau

References

External links

• "Digital Language Atlas of China", compiled by Lawrence W. Crissman, version 6, 5 October 2012, Australian Centre for the Asian Spatial Information and Analysis Network (ACASIAN) GIS Data Archive. doi: 10.7910/DVN/OHYYXH (Harvard Dataverse). The full dataset consists of eight layers in ESRI shapefile format derived from the Language Atlas of China. The initial release (under Creative Commons v3.0 – Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike) contains only a draft of the first layer, representing maps A1–4 and marking language families and major Chinese dialect groups, but not individual non-Chinese languages or subgroups of Chinese dialects.